How does the opening sequence affect the audience? -Inception

How does the opening sequence affect the audience?

Christopher Nolans box office hit Inception is a film that truly boggles the mind and engages the audience, through the Narrative structure, Sound, Editing, Camera Work and Mise en Scene. The most important part of any film is the opening as it tells the audience the characters involved and even gives you hints at what the plot will entail.

The narrative structure of the Opening of Inception is a Non-Linear as the scenes are not showed to us in time order. the effect this has on the audience is that it makes them question why the structure is like this. This makes the audience stand up and listen to what is and what will be going to happen. We as the audience get a restricted view of what's going on in the clip, as the Non-linear narrative leaves the audience with questions which wont get answered until the end of the clip. the effect this has is that the audience will be engaged as they will want to see their questions answered. Therefore Nolan used a Non-linear and Restrictive narrative structure to help engage the audience.

Christopher Nolan at the time of this film (2010) was one of the hottest properties on the market after his success with his Batman franchise. The Nolan way of editing is plain to see within the opening scene. Nolan uses a a Long Take to open up the movie of the sea waves crashing against the beach, this is a good example of enigma code as just showing us the sea shows the audience little and makes them restricted from the plot as its just Sea. This helps engage the audience as the clip is shown for a good 13 seconds and will know what's going on so will continue to watch on to try and piece it together. Nolan also uses a Cross- Cut from Leonardo Dicaprio's character lying on the beach for a reason that is not explained that continues the enigma of the audience as they don’t know why he's there, he cuts from this to and equally confusing scene of two children running around and laughing together. It is quite obvious that these two scenes are not happening at the same time but on the same beach. The effect this has on the audience is that it makes the audience even more confused as they will still have no idea of what's going on so they will continue to watch the film to try to piece it back together. This is an example of Non-Linear storytelling as they the narrative jumps from one scene to another at differing times.  

Hans Zimmer is one of the most famous and experienced Composes in the world and once again Zimmer has been successful in creating a score that illustrates not only the characters but the Genre to. The SoundTrack fits the bill for a Thriller as it creates Tension through the use of a major chord as the heavy bass and the strings are strung out to create vast amounts of tension. The effect on the audience of the Non-Diegetic is that it puts them on the edge of their seat and will continue to watch the film. The Diegetic sound (Dialogue and Sound Effects) had the effect of helping the audience understand the narrative and plot much better.

The Dialogue of the children in the other cut scene is that it will attract the attention of the audience as a childs laughter. The dialogue of the old man showed that he was in control as he spoke with the knowledge and understanding  that you would only get from living through a life well lived. Leonardo Dicaprio's character Dominic Cobb’s first bit of dialogue gives the audience the idea of the plot as he mentions Dreams and you can tell unlike in the first scene where he is not in control, in this one you can tell he is as he speaks with  convention which shows that he is very experience. The effect this has on the audience is that it will make them believe in the characters more as they speak with sense and it its mostly easy to understand.

To create a true character and scene that can be believed Nolan applied Mise-en-scene convention. The first part of Mise-en-scene that must be used is Lighting Nolan used he sues this to show the emotion of Happiness. The First Happiness is seen when Dominic Cobb (Leonardo Dicaprio) washes up on the beach. The effect this has is that it is ironic as the Cobb is not in any way, shape or form happy in where he is he is infact quite upset. The effect this has on the audience is that it creates a slight bit of joy in seeing him suffer as it can take us from our stressful lives, however it mainly creates Enigma Code as no-one knows why he is there or what will happen to him.  

The next part of Mise-en-scene that needs to be shown is the Props used the old man in the scene uses a spinning top, the top plays a significant role in the plot. The effect his has is it also creates enigma code as the audience don't know why its there or what it really is. The next step of Mise-en-scene is the setting, the scene has two setting one on a beach and one in a house/palace. The effect of the beach is again similar to one of lighting of a happiness as everyone is normally happy on a beach as it is fun and exciting. The effect of the house is that it gives background to old man as it makes it seem as if he is a rich man and what Dominic Cobb is doing here. Therefore Nolan uses a variety of Mise-en-Scene to engage the audience.

Nolan also uses many Camera Movements such as the Long Shots which is used in the start of the clip when Cobb is taken into the Palace. It is used so that you can make assumption of who the character is that lives in the house. This makes the audience feel anticipation as they  want to know who lives in the house and if he/she is or whether he/she is a villain or a hero and this will mean that they will be on the edge of their seats. The Director also uses a Close Up of Cobb after he is dragged into sit down this is so you can see how tiered Bobb is. The effect of this on the audience is that you can see that he is in an intense moment in the clip and the audience will feel that he is in danger and want to see what happens next. Therefore Nolan uses a variety of camera movements to engage the audience.

In Conclusion, Christopher Nolans box office hit Inception is a film that truly boggles the mind and engages the audience, through the Narrative structure, Sound, Editing, Camera Work and Mise en Scene.